India vs Sweden in Bangalore way back in 1985 was nothing but many a dream come true. That was the World Group quarter-final. Sweden had five players in the World's top ten at that point of time. Names like Mats Wilander, the then reigning French Open champion, Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd were music to the ears of tennis loves.
In fact, Sweden were the Davis Cup holders having defeating the United States 4-1 in the 1984 final with Wilander as their captain. Sweden went on to retain the cup in 1985 with a 3-2 victory over West Germany in the final having conquered India in the last eight in the Garden City in August.
The unseeded Wilander had surprised the tennis world at the 1982 French Open. He stunned second seed Ivan Lendl in the fourth round, fifth seed Vitas Gerulaitis in the quarterfinals, fourth seed Jose Luis Clerc in the semifinals. Third seed Guillermo Vilas as his victim in the final at 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-0, 6-4 in 4 hours and 42 minutes. He was the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 9 months, a record then. Boris Becker and Michael Chang, winner of the 1983 and 1984 Australian Open titles, however broke it later.
In 1985, Wilander won the French Open for the second time, defeating Ivan Lendl in the final. Add the exploits of Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan in the Davis Cup and in other tournaments, including the majors, and tennis enthusiasts could well be excused for waiting for the clash with bated breath.
Most of the Swedes were clay court specialists. So the Indians, in the monsoon of August 1985, decided to wrest the advantage and prepare a grass court. There wasn't much time and the debate whether to do so or not further reduced it. Yet, it was finally decided to have them. The courts were ready in time but rains during the match spoiled it. The hastily put up surface began to deteriorate and there was patches of clay. It was neither a fully prepared grass court nor completely clay.
No matter what the surface, the Swedes proved to be far too strong and won 4-1. Vijay Amritraj lost to Anders Jarryd 6-3 5-7 6-2 3-6 4-6 in the opening singles before Ramesh Krishnan went down to Mats Wilander 3-6 3-6 2-6.
Anand Amritraj and Vijay Amritraj lost the doubles to Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd 19-21 6-2 3-6 4-6. Vijay Amritraj beat Mats Wilander 8-6 9-7 in the first reverse singles with Wilander virtually fooling around as they had already wrapped up the tie. Ramesh Krishnan lost to Anders Jarryd 3-6 6-4 1-6 as Sweden's non-playing captain, the legendary Hans Olson guided them to victory.
The KSLTA Stadium, in fact, no stadium in India at that point of time, had witnessed players of such class and quality. Even television overage was a rarity then and the print media was the best friend and guide for everyone.
As a rare coincidence, the KSLTA also played host to two of the celebrated women's champions, Venus Williams and Serena Williams in 2008 when the WTA Tour Tier II event was held. A good 28 years later, another Davis Cup tie comes to the same venue. A lot of water has flowed down the Cauvery since 1985. Unfortunately for Indian tennis, it has become more muddy that it was then. The Indonesians are no great shakes in tennis unlike badminton. Yet, they are an opponent and considering that the Indians have their own problems to deal with, it could indeed be an encounter of the closer kind.
Tennis fans would surely like to welcome them if only for the fact that the Garden City will host yet another big event. Welcome Indonesia!